A family of nine raised complaints against the Namibian Police regarding the handling of a motor vehicle accident which led to the death of Dennis Mwilima Sinvula in October 2022.
Sinvula was a police officer with the rank of constable at the time of his untimely death. He was involved in a car accident, and died on the spot.
His brother, Owen Sinvula, said he feels that no justice was forthcoming after his brother’s death because no blood samples were collected from the vehicles’ drivers to ascertain the presence of alcohol or other prohibited substances.
“I am confident that my late sibling was a non-smoker and a teetotaller because he belonged to the 7th-Day Adventist Church,” he added.
Owen stated that it is believed that the other party drove recklessly and negligently, thereby causing the accident.
“The speedometer of the other party’s vehicle was found stuck at 120km/h, whilst that of the late Dennis was stuck at 60km/h,” he said.
He further indicated that community members who were present at the incident indicated that they saw the suspect walking out of his injured car, and going to an emergency ambulance.
The documents written by the investigating officer, Hendjala Isreal Fikameni, showed that he could not obtain a statement from the suspect because he had suffered chest injuries.
It is also alleged that no alcohol tests were conducted because the accident was allegedly attended by emergency personnel. However, the report of the investigating officer shows that he drove to the scene, and found both the deceased and the suspect at the scene. “What is painful is that my brother graduated that same Friday from E-police to become a traffic officer. So, the night of his death, he drove to his colleague’s house whom he graduated with to drop off his new uniform so that they could start with their new ranks on a Monday. On his way back, that is when he got involved in the car accident and lost his life,” said Owen.
“Until today, there is no case opened against anybody nor arrests made. I wrote a letter to Inspector General Joseph Shikongo regarding the matter, but he stated that he was not aware of it, and was not in his office when the incident happened.
I further wrote a letter to former Khomas regional commander David Indongo regarding the complaints. The latter said no case of negligent and/or reckless driving or culpable homicide has been opened with the Namibian Police for investigation and prosecution in a relevant court,” he continued.
The police’s PRO Raimbert Murongo said he is also not aware of the matter. He advised the family members of the deceased to contact the regional commander’s office for further investigation. “If you happen not to get all that you need, you can still come back so that we can see what we can do,” Murongo said.
“With all this said, we as a family have put measures in place to pursue unspecified legal action for police negligence,” said Owen.
– taimihaihambo2000@gmail.com